The development of Marina Bay marks the next chapter in Singapore’s ongoing commitment to a dynamic urban environment. Matching the energy of Sydney Harbor, Marina Bay is a vibrant urban room and a new focal point for the downtown district: Water is the unifying element that connects a performing arts center, retail, dining, hotels, residential buildings, and commercial facilities.

The Marina Bay Business and Financial Centre is situated on the first development site in the new district. Comprising three office buildings and two residential towers on 4.9-acres (two-hectares), the project employs a crystalline architectural language to blend dissimilar program elements into an integrated assemblage. The crystal forms, clad in heavily tinted, low-e glass with a high shading coefficient, are intended to create a strong profile on the Singapore skyline. Their faceted surfaces break up the massing of the individual buildings by reflecting sunlight in different ways. The towers are oriented to maximize views of the marina.

Three of the towers—two offices buildings and one residential structure—rise above a low podium, unifying both the ground plane and the overall development. The other two towers stand free of the podium assemblage. A city park, situated between the towers, covers a below-grade retail mall, which is connected to Singapore’s multimodal transportation network.

Connected by covered walkways, the commercial component contains retail spaces at grade. The 30-story office tower, which sits on a waterfront site, culminates in an open-air rooftop, where a 5,000-square-foot restaurant sits within a bamboo garden and features views of the bay and the civic core of Singapore. At 45 stories, the second office tower offers views past the lower building. Both of the commercial towers have projecting horizontal louvers to shade occupants from Singapore’s tropical sun. A public plaza around the lower building provides porosity through the site and a focal point for the retail component.

Horizontal fins and continuous balconies serve as shading devices on the residential buildings and ensure formal continuity with the commercial towers.